Month: February 2014

There was almost an altercation this afternoon between the hummers and the bushtits over possession of the fountain. When the bushtits crowded the fountain, the hummers flitted about and squeaked their displeasure but they didn’t dive bomb the “bushies”—as I have come to call them—and they stopped short of joining in the public bathing display. The bushtits are noisy delightful little creatures and they bathe en masse. I’ve featured them in the blog before but can never resist a great bird shot so here is another shot of the bushtits. These little birds must live nearby because they have been bathing in the fountain regularly which apparently annoys the hummers. As with the hummers, though, I cannot get enough of them so you’ll likely be seeing more of these bathing bushies in my blog.

I made a quick visit to Santa Rosa to take care of some family business and stayed with my brother John who is an excellent, innovative cook. Today after our meeting, he made a delightful Waldorf salad using Jazz apples which I’d never tried. They were delicious as was the salad that included coconut, almonds, fresh ginger and a few other unusual ingredients that made a typically mundane salad into a unique gustatory experience. I was busy and didn’t give too much thought to photography until I noticed the three Jazz apples he planned to use for the salad setting on the counter. I took a couple of shots and liked the composition I got without doing more than aiming my camera. However, I decided to see what I could find in Perfect Effects to enhance the shot and decided the crackle finish look made an interesting kitchen shot.

My wonderful friends, Susan and Chris Nelsen, both of whom I’ve known for 50 years (well, I’ve known Susan for about 56 years and if you count our first encounter at Blue Bird Camp when we were 8, it’s actually 60 years —omg!) have hosted me at their winter playground in Port Aransas, Texas every year since 2008, except last year when I was totally immersed in Famous Mo’s). My 6th visit ended yesterday and was altogether too short. The unusual inclement weather kept us off the water except for two of my ten days but we did manage to walk on the beach every day except the day the wind chill was 25°. I indulged in locally caught fresh seafood most days, including tuna, flounder, shrimp, black drum, red fish, mussels, and amberjack. Heavenly.

Thank you Susan and Chris for another wonderful time. I’m looking forward to next year.

I took this shot at Fins Seafood and Grill Friday morning. We went there for a farewell breakfast and at last, the weather was so gorgeous we were able to sit outside on the deck overlooking the wharf. I must confess that this photo is Photoshopped big time, for me anyway. I took the photo using my 24-70mm lens set at f/2.8 and because of the large f-stop, the depth of field is very shallow and I didn’t position my subjects properly so when I focused the shot on Chris, Susan was not in focus. I didn’t notice that when I chimped the shot on the LCD panel but I did immediately take two shots of Susan. When I realized the shot of them together needed help, I superimposed the in focus shot of Susan on top of the out of focus one et voilà! A perfect shot of them together!

Here are a few more shots I liked from Thursday’s meander on the Intracoastal Waterway in Texas.

A flock of roseate spoonbills shoveling in the shallow water for food:

A great white egret searching for a more fertile hunting ground:

A great blue heron in the midst of a flock of feeding ibis:

Cormorants perching on a decaying dock: